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Chris’s 2016 Year in Review

2016 was a big year for us, since it marked my exit from the software industry and into brewing. I started attending the Niagara College brewing program in January and began to focus on levelling up my brewing by practicing a lot at home. V and I also spent a lot of time expanding our knowledge by travelling a lot this year. It’s easy to get stuck into a local market funk, so we took an adventure through the states to see what kinds of beers other brewers are making. It helped us create a new bar for our local breweries, and expanded our horizons into what kinds of beers we might want to make in the future.

Brewing Resolutions for 2016

Learn more about math in brewing. Build my own tools — Success! Though this was kind of cheating since I had to do it in school. I did build something in Excel, though I’m not quite happy with it and plan on moving everything over to Ruby or something that makes it easier to generate brewday sheets as well as have better versioning.

Start using lager yeast — Success! To date, I’ve brewed 5 lagers, and 1 lagered ale. I’m still learning a lot regarding lagering and don’t brew lagers it as much as I’d like since they monopolize my fermentation chamber.

Nail down repeatability and consistency — Semi-success. I definitely feel like my beers have gotten a lot better, and I’ve had a few recipes that I’ve had to brew over and over again (a berliner weisse). While I’ve dialed in my recipes, some still aren’t exactly what I’d call consistent. I’m going to try this again next year and focus on a simpler style to use as my goalpost.

2016’s Brewing Numbers

Total Batches of Beer Brewed: 33

Most Repeated Recipe: Sour Wheat Beer Base x 5

Beer that took the Longest: Oaked Amber French Saison on Cherries — 6 months

About Chris

If there is a place that serves or sells beer I've never heard of, I'll find a way to get there. A fan of the humble Pale Ale, though always willing to try a pint of something new. I also enjoy brewing my own beers and love sharing the science of the beer making process.